News > Research Edge Forum September 2008
Research Edge Forum: Women & Boat Building in The Bahamas Promising to be something a bit different this year, The Research Edge Forum began its 2008 - 2009 academic year's presentations on Friday 12th September with a fascinating and very informative lecture by Mr Kendall Butler of the Ministry of Works entitled WOMEN & BOAT BUILDING IN THE BAHAMAS. Mr Butler explained that his lecture was actually part of a larger research, The History of Boat Builders of The Bahamas, Bermuda and the Turcs & Caicos Islands, which goes back to the time when records were started on the different islands – the early 1600s in Bermuda, 1648 in The Bahamas and the early 1700s in the Turcs & Caicos – and he gave a comprehensive history of female participation in boat building, boat ownership, sailing and maritime administration. Much of this section of Mr Butler's research was based almost entirely on oral sources. The written records only refer to men building boats, so Mr Butler spoke to the elderly on the different islands and gathered his information through his conversations. He heard, pursued and then verified the details of what he heard and was satisfied if facts were substantiated from two or more independent oral sources or by a government, church or some other official document. Women boat builders are very rare. Records show there was one in Bermuda and just one in Turcs & Caicos but, during the same period, The Bahamas had four. Mrs Minerva Bethel-Jones of Lisbon Creek Mangrove Cay Andros, Mrs Adeline Cooper-Bevans of Grand Bahama, Mrs Helena Bain of Mayaguana and Mrs Elsa Vivienne Moss-Ingraham of New Providence all built and sailed their own boats at different times during the early twentieth century. All except the last, Mrs Moss-Ingraham, came from families with a long tradition of boat building and grew up relying on boats to collect fresh water, to catch fish to supplement their diet and to visit people on nearby cays. They were all women of African descent and, in Mr Butler's opinion, could be said to have struck the first blow for equal rights for women even though they were not aware of the ramifications of their actions. "Their accomplishments," states Mr Butler, "should not go unsung and they should always be remembered." Among other women who owned and sailed their own boats were Diana Deveaux of Cat Island, who owned a 42' schooner; Elizabeth Jane Dupuch of New Providence, who owned a 41' schooner; Mrs Ethel Russell of Andros, who is still alive and used to run a ferry between Little Harbour and Mangrove Cay and now operates the Traveller's Rest in Little Harbour; Marion Barbara "Joe" Carstairs, who lived in the Berry Islands and built roads, a school and a power plant on Whale Cay; and Elizabeth McKinney- Rolle, who had a 21‘ sloop which she used for sailing around the southern part of Andros, fishing, diving, conching and hauling. Mr Butler also mentioned some outstanding women sailors, such as Gloria Fitzgerald, the first female captain with an all female crew at the national Family Island Regatta, who also set the national record for catching sharks, Lauriel Knowles Louless Paitience, who made history at the Exuma Regatta by winning a division with an all female crew, and the Rolle sisters of Exuma who have both won divisions at the Exuma Regatta in the twenty-first century. The appreciative audience listened with rapt attention as Mr Butler made his presentation, fascinated to hear of the contributions women have made to boat building in The Bahamas during the last 150 years. Research Edge presents forums highlighting research conducted by College faculty, staff, students and other Bahamian researchers at 12.00 noon on the second or third Friday of the month at the Lecture Theatre of the Bahamas Tourism Training Centre.
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